music in a day

1. city sounds

unmanned marimbas beating
in a slow three

ugly men with cigarettes
fading in important shirts
self-referential poses

decaying refrains
lost in the echoing din
across sweltering courtyards

2. songs of the city

I am beating
in a driving three

internal pulses twisting
against the impossible world
entangled distances

falling in line

certain moments disengaged
with relaxed hushed breaths
catching each other

on complementing beats

3. night music

life is music
I learn to play

I listen for nuance
sounds creeping on edges
of competing songs

I learn to breathe
with eyes wide open

my body instinctive
catches movements
heavy in the air

I learn to slow down
roaring beats blazing
time consumed infernos

until tempos repose
into steady heartbeats
skipping on each other

bringing in the night sky
collecting pizzicato stars
plucked above glowing Mars

4. dawn

the morning moon waits

on the horizon

I am singing
as the sun ascends
and night falls
half a world away

I learn to listen
to my own sounds
etched subtly
in places unseen

but heard


we start the day